Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for her answer. I appreciate the situation we are in but out of the 277 gardaí we have in the Wicklow division at the moment, some 28 could retire tomorrow morning if they so wished. This would put huge pressure on the system. Equally, of the nine new recruits we did get into the area, three have since retired and have moved on. Wicklow has seen a 63% decrease in its drug squad and we have seen a 28% decrease in community gardaí. The Garda reserves numbers for the county have seen a 43% decrease. This all has a significant effect on the ground especially around the operation of our towns where a Garda presence is not there. I am looking for more assurance from the Tánaiste that Wicklow will get its fair share of the Garda recruits as they are coming out in the future.

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